Saturday, April 23, 2016

#Shakespeare400 Celebrating the Legacy of William Shakespeare

Good morrow, my butterflies! I was on Twitter earlier today as I often am when I'm bored and I came across the trending topic #Shakespeare400. I'm pretty sure this particular topic grabbed my attention because of my admiration for the arts; literary, visual andperformance and let's be honest,William Shakespeare aka The Bard is one of the greatest literary artist known to mankind. So I did my research and #Shakespeare400 is the global celebration of Shakespeare's work on the 400th anniversary of his death (today); it is also believed to be his birthday. After reading that, I'm sitting here thinking like WOW! You had to have made a MAJOR impact on society to have your life's work still be appreciated four hundred years later, it's truly amazing!

We've all read or at least at some point heard about the most popular of all his plays/sonnets, the love story of Romeo & Juliet;songs by The Killers, Taylor SwiftandSylk-E Fynehave been stuck in my head all day because of Romeo & Juliet (#musicIsLife seriously) lol.I remember being introduced to Shakespeare in middle school via Romeo & Juliet, then came Macbeth, Othello and Hamlet in high school. What I didn't know growing up is that there is another Shakespeare story similar to Romeo & Juliet titled Anthony & Cleopatra which is also a good read. Although reading any of Shakespeare's plays/sonnets is unarguably one of the most challenging things you'll ever read or at least it was for me, it's also a very rewarding read once you're able to translate it into modern day English which makes it so much easier to comprehend.

Anyway, since I haven't done my #12BooksIn12Monthschallenge update for April yet I thought this would be a perfect opportunity being that today is the anniversary of Shakespeare's death and everyone all over the world is celebrating his legacy. My #12BooksIn12Months book for April 2016 is Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. It's basically a she loves him, but he loves her love triangle story with a little deceit, mistaken identity and a not so bad ending. Two of my favorite quotes are from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night; "If music be the food of love, play on." (Act 1, Scene 1) As well as, "Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." (Act 2, Scene 5)

For more information on #Shakespeare400 visit www.Shakespeare400.org if you're in the UK and www.Shakespeare400Chicago.org if you're in the US. If my post has inspired you to read some Shakespeare then I suggest to favorite Shakespeare go to sites www.nosweatshakespeare.com or www.sparknotes.com ( aka the college student's best friend lol). If you're on Twitter feel free to drop me a tweet sometimes @BellePrincessTx, book suggestions are always welcomed. Until next time...I bid thee adieu (laters lol)!